"Stir" takes to the road again!

[Stir Young]

Hey, its me, Gary Young! You know, the smart alecky guy who was gonna go out west??? I thought I might try doing one of these blog thingies about my trip to Yellowstone Park and back.

So who is Stir? Well, that's been my nickname since I was in high school. I was originally called "Youngster" by one of my friends, I guess because I only looked about 12 years old when I was a Junior. As time went on, "Youngster" got shortened to "Ster", or "Stir", as I prefer to spell it, and people just ASSUMED that the shortened variety came about because I "stirred" up trouble. Why, nothing could be further from the truth....c'mon, you know me....I'm a peacemaker!

Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, I embarked on a quest to find people whom I'd worked with in Yellowstone Park in the summer of 1969. It became a cooperative project as I found others, and they started looking too. Along the way, we've been able to account for about 12 people, and the idea for an employee reunion came about. That reunion took place on August 14th and 15th 2009, in Gardiner, Montana, and the story that follows will hopefully tell a little about the summer of 1969 in Yellowstone Park, and my journey back there 40 years later.

And just who is that mischieveous looking guy up above? Why that's me, in the summer of 1969, of course.

[Stir Young]

As I exited the park through the Roosevelt Arch, I took a little road that angled to the left. This road took me past the old train station and local school, to an impressive looking building, obvisously quite new, but with a retro styling.

This was the home of the "Heritage and Research Center" for Yellowstone National Park. I'd read about it earlier, and decided to have a look. The building housed the park's archives, library and museum collections.

I entered into a foyer, and there was a vacant reception desk with a checkin log. I entered my name and noted that without an appointment, this lobby was the only thing available to the casual visitor. Another placard announced that guided tours were available the next day, Thursday, at 10:00 AM. I made a mental note of that, but felt that it would not fit well with touring plans I had for the upcoming day.

There were several very nicely done displays in the foyer, and I looked at those, and left. I knew I would make plans around visiting this place on a future visit to Yellowstone.

[Stir Young]

I left Mammoth, and the Terraces, and headed back down to Gardiner, taking the conventional 2 lane paved road. I stopped at the 45th Parallel sign and took a picture. Someday I'll stop at the one down the road from my home and take a picture of that 45th Parallel sign. Then I'll have a portfolio of 2 pictures of "45ths I have visited". Cool, huh?

[Stir Young]

This picture was taken from a point looking up at one of the few active features seen from the Lower Terrace boardwalks. I remember this area to be more active in 1969.

I hiked from the bottom boardwalk to the Upper Terrace, but I stopped and rested a couple of times. It was very hot, in the middle of the afternoon, and I was laboring in the thin atmosphere. I'm sure that the 37 years I devoted to smoking didn't have anything to do with my breathing difficulties. I wonder if they had made the steps steeper since 1969, I certainly didn't have any trouble breathing back then!

[Stir Young]

I then made my way back toward Mammoth, and pulled in at the Upper Terrace. Traffic was moving very slow, and when I got to the top, it took some hunting, and luck, maybe, to find a parking spot. I got out and got a map of the area. As I looked out over Mammoth, the town, I noted that there were several boardwalks below me, starting in Mammoth, and ending right up here. I took several pictueres, and decided to drive down to the bottom and hike back up.

This photo looks down over part of Mammoth. At the far end of the road framed by the two clumps of trees, and right by the red roofed buildings, sits my old workplace/dorm room/ dining room. I couldn't get a picture of my building from the upper terrace because of foilage.

[Stir Young]

I got back almost to Mammoth, just south of the Hoodoos, and stopped here at Golden Gate and took a few pictures. This was a place I remembered from 1969.

[Stir Young]

I left Norris Geyser Basin, and headed north, back toward Mammoth. I stopped here at Sheepeater Cliff. This was a smaller, less specatular site, but none the less there was a fair amount of people here. I would have liked a picture without all the people sitting up there, but it might have been a long wait for that.

[Stir Young]

This is a picture of a large portion of the Pocelain Basin at Norris.

[Stir Young]

I got to the Norris Basin parking lot before it was crowded. I put on some actual walking shoes, as it looked like this could be a hike.

I saw the people I talked to at Nymph Lake pull in....their car was making a strange noise...kind of a metal on metal sound from under the hood. It wasn't the metal on metal sound of bad brakes. I wondered if they were going to be able to make it home in that ride.

I got a map, and took off on the trail to the Back Basin. This was quite a sight, various examples of geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots. It was another beautiful day, and it was also getting plenty warm.

I took lots of pictures, and gradually circled back to the starting point at the museum. There I decided to push on, and walk the route circling the Porcelain Basin. There now were lots of people walking the boardwalks and paths, mostly foreign visitors. In fact I rarely heard English spoken. On two occasions, I saw a Park Ranger politely lecture people who had disregarded, or not understood, the signs warning to stay on the posted pathways.

I finished up my tour, and visited the Yellowstone Association's Store. I bought a couple more books, and chatted with the sales clerk, a recent retiree. I really liked these stores!

[Stir Young]

Almost to Norris Junction, I pulled off the side of the road to look at a thermal feature at a place called Nymph Lake. There was a strong rotten egg smell here, and steam was wafting out of various places. An older Saturn pulled up behind me and stopped, and a couple got out to look. I asked if they would take my picture and they seemed happy to do it. I chatted with them a bit and found out they were from Oregon, heading home from somewhere east visiting relatives. The lady said she had just bought the car, a 1995 model. It looked like it had seen a lot of miles.

(When I got home and reviewed my pictures closer, I noticed that I had the same shirt on here that I had worn two days earlier. I don't know why I wore it two out of three days, but honest, I did change clothes once in a while!)

[Stir Young]

I parked on the one way drive and took this and several other pictures of the Hoodoos. This was another odd little exhibit of Mother Nature's handiwork.